Hearing Documents

Rule Information

FLOOR ACTION ON H. RES. 228:
ADOPTED by record vote of 228-185, after agreeing to the previous question by record vote of 223-194, on Wednesday, May 22, 2013.

MANAGERS: Webster/Polis

1. Structured rule.

2. Provides 90 minutes of general debate equally divided among and controlled by the respective chairs and ranking minority members of the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce, and natural Resources.

3. Waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.

4. Makes in order as original text for purpose of amendment an amendment in the nature of substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 113-11 and provides that it shall be considered as read.

5. Waives all points of order against the amendment in the nature of a substitute.

6. Makes in order only those further amendments printed in the Rules Committee report. Each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question.

7. Waives all points of order against the amendments printed in the report.

Requires the GAO to conduct a study and prepare a report of the Keystone XL pipeline to determine the total projected costs of pipeline spill cleanup, including the potential impacts of a petroleum spill on public health and the environment and the quantity and quality of water available for agricultural and municipal purposes.

Requires TransCanada and any future owner or operator of the Keystone XL pipeline to maintain safety data sheets specific to the material contained and transported within the pipeline. Such safety data sheets must be made immediately available upon request to a representative of the United States Government, State government, or local authority responding to an accident or incident involving the pipeline or facility.

Requires TransCanada to submit its oil spill response plan, and any updates to the plan, to the Governors of each State in which the Keystone XL pipeline operates. TransCanada is required to develop such a plan under current law and regulations; only certain Federal agencies receive and review the plan.

Late Requires TransCanada to certify to the President that construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline, as described in the May 4, 2012 application, will create 20,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs.

Requires two studies on the costs to taxpayers of any potential spill. The first addresses the costs of cleanup, lost business revenue, public health impacts, and water supply damage. The second review would include factors such as historical spill data and the corrosive nature of tar sands.

Removes the mandate to allow one specifically named company to never receive appropriate oversight through the permit process for operation and/or maintenance – in perpetuity, while allowing construction permit fast-track.

Increases American energy independence by requiring that all oil and refined fuels transported through the Keystone XL Pipeline be used here in the United States and not exported, unless the President finds that an exception is required by law or in the national interest.

Requires the Secretary of Transportation to submit a report to Congress identifying the procedures and policies adopted to ensure that women and minority business enterprises are afforded the opportunity to participate on an equitable basis in the construction and operation of the Keystone Pipeline

Strikes section 7 of the bill which automatically approves all permits applied for under section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for the construction, operations and maintenance of the pipeline after 90 days.

Adds a section requiring that the Environmental Protection Agency conduct a study assessing the potential environmental impact of waste byproducts generated from the refining of oil transported through the Keystone XL pipeline.

Strikes section 3 of the bill (Keystone XL Permit Approval). Section 3 eliminates the requirement for a Presidential Permit to construct the Keystone XL pipeline across an international border. Section 3 further deems the new application for the Keystone XL pipeline approved, based on a final environmental impact statement issued by the U.S. Department of State for a different pipeline route.

Provides that the bill will not go into effect unless the Secretary of Transportation determines that current pipeline regulations are sufficient to ensure the safety of pipelines used for transportation of diluted bitumen.

Adds a finding that “the reliance on oil sands crudes for transportation fuels would likely result in an increase in incremental greenhouse gas emissions” in the United States, resulting in additional greenhouse gas emissions equal to 4.3 million passenger vehicles. Also provides that the bill will not go into effect unless the President finds that TransCanada or tar sands producers will fully offset the additional greenhouse gas emissions.